If you love exploring beautiful cities that respect the past as much as they live for the moment, Buenos Aires is your kind of holiday destination. Its colourful history began with the Spanish conquistadors and today it's the vibrant powerhouse for Argentina's strengthening economy.

About our Auckland to Buenos Aires flights

Direct (non-stop) flights to Buenos Aires from Auckland depart several times a week. As well as Economy and Premium Economy seats, you have the option of Business Premier™.

It's no problem to visit Buenos from Wellington or Christchurch. Simply arrange a domestic flight to Auckland in time for your international departure.

One cultural experience you can't miss is watching football at La Bombonera stadium. As they say, Argentina is a Catholic country, but the real religion is football.

The Auckland to Buenos Aires flight path travels west to east across the southern Pacific Ocean and flight time is usually 11 hours and 30 minutes. Due to headwinds, Buenos Aires to Auckland flights is a little longer at around 13 hours.

If you're interested in our cheapest flights to Buenos Aires, you can sign up to our newsletter to receive regular updates about fares, packages, competitions and exclusive offers.

Where to go and what to see in Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires has a twinkle in its eye and a dance step in its walk. There's an undercurrent of Latin charisma running through the city that puts it up there with Paris, Rome and Porto. You'll spend your days here discovering history at street level, exploring local markets, dining on the best steak in the world and sipping red wine that has flavour and smoothness in equal quantities. When drawing up your hit list of things to do in Buenos Aires, you might even slip in a tango or two.

Every neighbourhood is different

Give shape to your daily wanderings in Buenos Aires by focusing on one neighbourhood (barrio) at a time. With its cobblestone streets and ornate historic buildings, San Telmo will match your imaginings of urban Buenos Aires. It has an amazing market too, for provisions and on-the-spot eating. Palermo Soho is trendy and creative - a great place for shopping and street life. La Boca is for football fans and art lovers. Palermo Viejo is the old town, packed with beautiful historic buildings, sun-soaked cafes and a diversity of cultures. Recoleta is known for luxury hotels and fancy homes, as well as a labyrinthine La Recoleta cemetery that's like a suburb all of its own.

History wherever you look

There's a blurring between art and architecture in the historic streets of Buenos Aires, so expect to take hundreds of photos. Down the grand Avenida de Mayo, ornate facades and embellishments are the status quo. You'll see Greco-Roman, art nouveau, neoclassical, neo-romantic and Asian-Indian revival buildings, proving how this city is an extraordinary melting pot of architectural styles.

To grasp something of Buenos Aires' colourful past, find some of the most famous landmarks on foot. Look for the presidential Pink House (Casa Rosada), which appeared in the movie Evita; the 'Illuminated Block', a complex of 17th century Jesuit buildings; Obelisco de Buenos Aires, constructed in 1936; the stern neoclassical cathedral, with its beautiful Venetian-style mosaics; and the El Ateneo Grand Splendid, a huge book store within an old theatre.

Amazing food and wine

Buenos Aires isn't only for history lovers. Foodies will also have a top-notch time here, especially those who love meat. The signature restaurant style in this city is the steakhouse, where accomplished barbecue chefs cook perfectly aged beef and chorizo on simple iron grills called parrillas.

On days when you don't want to eat steak and empanadas, Buenos Aires has an impressive collection of casual and fine dining establishments that display the less-meaty side of Argentine cuisine. Menus focus on fresh local produce, traditional carbs like tortillas and arepas, and South American delicacies, such as Patagoanian trout and Paraguayan mbeju (starch cake). There are modern bistros, traditional cafes, sushi bars, pizzerias and caramel-scented bakeries. Eating is a city-wide obsession - if you want to find the best restaurants in Buenos Aires, ask a local whenever you get the chance.

Argentina is the fifth largest wine producer in the world, with a leaning towards reds and rosés. The most popular grape is Malbec, which is bold, vibrant and fantastic with food. A decent bottle of Malbec will cost less than NZD $10.

Entertainment and creativity

Kicking up your heels in Buenos Aries means exactly that - dancing up a storm. This town was born to tango at milongas (dance parties) that last all night. And don't think that tango dancing is only for middle-aged people; the milongas are packed with young people - Buenos Aires locals, as well as visitors who love to strut their stuff.

If you weren't born to tango, Buenos Aires has a sharp collection of alternative nightlife venues. The area to target for nightclubs is Palermo, including the waterfront area near Avenida Costanera Rafael Obligado.

You can also approach Buenos Aires nightlife from the high-end angle, by securing tickets to Teatro Colón (Colón Theatre) - Argentina's premier venue for opera, ballet and classical music.

For daytime Buenos Aires attractions, visit Caminito in La Boca, an iconic area of Buenos Aires notable for brightly coloured corrugated iron houses. Another arty experience can be found wandering the streets of San Telmo and Palermo, where murals and street paintings express current graphic fashion.

One cultural experience you can't miss is watching football at La Bombonera stadium. As they say, Argentina is a Catholic country, but the real religion is football. You'll love how the home crowd sings throughout the entire game from kick off to full time.

More of Argentina

From Buenos Aires you can travel further into Argentina for a real South American adventure. Iguazu Falls, watery Nahuel Huapi National Park and the high desert landscapes of Talampaya National Park are three of the top natural attractions that can be easily accessed with domestic flights. If you want to dip deeper into Argentine wine culture, Mendoza Province west of Buenos Aires is your place.

Beyond Argentina, Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro in Brazil are less than three hours away by air. Or you can flit to Santiago in Chile in just over two hours, an exciting city with an awesome Andes mountain backdrop.

Buenos Aires highlights

Essential information

Best time to go

Buenos Aires has a humid subtropical climate with four distinct seasons; all of them comfortable for travellers. Spring has warm days and cool nights, with an average high is 22°C. Summer is hot and humid, with an average high of 29°C. Things are cooling off in autumn, which has an average high of 23°C. Winter is mild, with an average high is 16°C. While rainfall is spread throughout the year, the driest time is May to September.

How much will it cost?

Holidaying in Buenos Aires is great value. Prices are a little lower than comparable European cities, such as Lisbon or Barcelona, and you can expect to eat and drink cheaply - unless you're chasing fine dining experiences.

Health

The CDC and WHO recommend the following vaccines for Argentina: typhoid, yellow fever, hepatitis A, hepatitis B, rabies, measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) and influenza.

Visas

New Zealand passport holders don't require a visa to enter Argentina as tourists or business travellers.